Legislation will help develop antibiotics to battle 'superbugs'

Updated 7:06 pm, Friday, January 17, 2014

It's hard to imagine that just 60 years ago a small cut or common cold could lead to hospitalization, and even death, from bacterial infection.

The advent of penicillin, along with decades of innovation and research, have revolutionized treatment and redefined public health standards in the United States and around the world. Since then, antibiotics have saved countless lives. However, over time bacteria have evolved and the pipeline for new antibiotics has dried up, and we now face a new, ever-increasing threat.

For several years now, health care professionals, hospitals, academics, and public health experts have raised alarm about the increase of antibiotic-resistant infections. "Superbugs," as they are commonly known, are a growing public health threat, particularly to vulnerable patients such as seniors, soldiers on the battlefield, and the chronically ill.

Doctors warn that a patient can go from having a minor infection to death in a matter of days. In one case, a 39 year-old Kentucky man died from lung-eating bacteria, just one day after checking into a hospital for what he thought was pneumonia. In another, a 23 year-old died of organ failure and muscle poisoning, just five days after bacteria from a toenail infection spread and eventually caused a heart attack.

Infectious disease experts have repeatedly warned of the urgent need for new antibacterial therapies to treat patients with serious or life-threatening infections because of pathogens' resistance to available treatments.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, issued a warning this year about antibiotic resistance and outlined the need for urgent action. In its report, "Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States," the CDC estimated that more than 2 million Americans become ill from antibiotic-resistant infections every year, with at least 23,000 dying as a result.

In response to this urgent unmet medical need, we introduced new legislation, the Antibiotic Development to Advance Patient Treatment (ADAPT) Act of 2013, which would incentivize and accelerate the development of new drugs to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. The ADAPT Act builds on the success of the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now Act, which was signed into law last year and has already helped to streamline 19 new antibacterial treatments through the FDA.

The ADAPT Act is the necessary next step in fighting the looming threat of untreatable infections. It would accelerate the development of new treatments by creating a new pathway for antibiotics and antifungals aimed at treating serious and life-threatening infections in a limited population of patients who lack effective therapeutic options.

The bill also streamlines the process by which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration updates breakpoints information, which is used to inform doctors of the appropriate use and dosage of drugs.

Finally, the ADAPT Act expands and strengthens CDC monitoring of bacterial resistance and the use of antibiotics to treat serious and life threatening infections and make this information publicly available for providers, hospitals and academics.

The CDC report paints a grave picture. We can no longer ignore the risk of an antibiotic-resistant epidemic and the growing number of lives these superbugs continue to claim. New antibiotics must be developed to protect us from reverting back to a world before penicillin.

By providing regulatory certainty and incentives for investment in new, effective therapies, improvement in breakpoint updating, and enhanced monitoring of the use of antibiotics and drug resistance - the ADAPT Act is a critical component of the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.

Green, a Democrat representing the Houston-area Congressional District 29, and Gingrey, a Georgia Republican, serve on the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health.